1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an LED bulb and, more particularly, to an LED bulb, which is constructed so that a plurality of heat dissipating protrusions protrudes from the outer circumferential surface of a housing to increase the surface area of the housing, thus allowing heat generated from an LED element to be easily dissipated to the outside of the housing.
2. Background Art
Recently, lighting apparatuses that use a light emitting diode (hereinafter, referred to as an LED) to substitute for a fluorescent light have been subject to active development. The LED is advantageous in that the efficiency with which power is converted into light is excellent, the efficiency of light per unit power is high, its life span is long, power consumption is low, and high luminous intensity is obtained. Such LEDs have been used for a variety of purposes.
LED lights are advantageous because the processing speed is high and power consumption is low, whereas LED lights are disadvantageous because the light emitting part comprises a semiconductor element, so that it is more vulnerable to heat than are incandescent bulbs or fluorescent lights. That is, since LED lights are constructed so that a plurality of LED elements is mounted on an LED module, the amount of heat that is generated is large.
Especially, conventional LED bulbs are problematic in that the surface area of a housing is relatively small, and an additional heat dissipating structure is not provided, so that it is difficult to effectively dissipate heat emitted from an LED element. Hence, it is impossible to supply a predetermined or more of electric current to the LED element, so that a relatively large number of LED modules are required to use the LED element as a lighting apparatus.
Further, in the case of applying a cooling method to the LED bulb, there is a limitation in dissipating heat which is generated when the LED element is driven. In order to overcome the problem, the size of a heat dissipating member may be increased. This causes the size, weight, and cost of a product to increase, so that it is difficult to satisfy consumers.
Therefore, there is an urgent demand for the development of an LED bulb which can effectively dissipate the heat generated by an LED element while preventing the size, weight and cost of a product from increasing, thus fulfilling the desires of consumers.